Krug to miss opener, camp focus shifts to replacement

The Bruins announced this morning that Torey Krug, knocked out of Tuesday’s game against Detroit in the waning moments after sustaining a non-displaced jaw fracture from a puck, will be sidelined until a scheduled evaluation in three weeks.

JFK had made two terrific primary assists on Boston goals before crashing into the end boards near the Zamboni gate in the NE corner of the TDG rink. His speed alone made it scary as he toppled with an opponent, but the whiplash of his back/shoulders against the kickplate was not a pretty sight. It was loud, and a relief to see the rookie pro get right back up and amble to the bench where he actually took a seat before it was determined his night was finished.

Frankly I expected concussion protocol so day-to-day either means a lingering situation of uncertainty as to the extent of more/less whiplash, etc., or it’s better than it looked.

As for the lighter, hard-skating LW Beleskey, it can only be hoped his situation is quite temporary and he won’t lose too much in the way of game conditioning as he attempts to re-establish the career momentum he had when he came here from Anaheim in 2015.

Krug: Plain and simple, this injury prematurely funnels Coach Bruce Cassidy into a second-phase of evaluation particularly where it concerns Matt Grzelcyk.

As Cassidy stated in answer to Rink Rap’s postgame question on Tuesday night, it could be that a player will make the team based on the fit rather than an outright reward. And Grzelcyk is the obvious fit to replace Krug in his PMD/PP role.

Robbie O’Gara is making his own case for consideration, but the odds are against him. Had Zdeno been the player who went down, then the skate would be on the other foot. So O’Gara’s odds of making the opening-night lineup against Nashville have not, at least as of this moment, increased as sharply as have Grzelcyk’s.

Now, given the imbalance of right-shot defensemen to left – Chara and Krug were the only returning left shots in this camp – it’s also on Cassidy’s radar to get a look at Charlie McAvoy on the left side because of his role and Krug’s absence.

Heretofore, the stars have been aligned to ask emerging stalwart Kevan Miller to slide left, as he had under Claude Julien before Cassidy took over and reversed the situation so that Miller’s partner, Colin Miller, was the right-shooting D playing his off-side.

Suddenly and without warning, Cassidy has to be in aggressive pursuit now of a serviceable solution to this problem. Even though Krug could be back in November, a solid start is so important for a young team like the Bruins and this is a vulnerable area. Had a right-shot defenseman by any name gone down, it might have been as big a disappointment, but no way would it be as impactful to the plan.

Losing Krug for any length of time changes the politics of training camp.

Look for powerplay roles tonight with Grzelcyk and also some second-unit looks for Jeremy Lauzon and right-shot veteran Paul Postma on left point and quarterbacking. Ironically, this is not a break for the aggressive Connor Clifton. While his style of game may most resemble Krug’s, camp is simply not long enough for the rookie pro right shot to be on Cassidy’s short list of potential short-term solutions for the NHL club.

[As an obligatory aside, why is this left-right stuff such a big deal in the first place? Bobby Orr, Brad Park and Raymond Bourque were all left-shot defensemen whose Hall of Fame careers were made on the right point. Along with being elite athletes, hey were geniuses at their positions and for the game overall. But in the hyper-coached era, Julien and the vast majority of coaches in his wake have gone out of their way to get their right-shot D's on the right side of the rink and their lefts on the left (Chara had played some right side earlier in his career before coming to Boston, where he has never lined up on the left in his decade here). It's a system thing, it's a defensive-posture thing, it's a stick-position thing where it concerns playing the puck off the boards and also rimming the puck down the ice (so that it spins naturally against the boards like a tire on a road). While recent seasons have seen teams extend the stick-inside principle from the powerplay into 5-on-5 play once possession is established in the attacking zone -- then they weave back in transition against to defend right on right and left on left -- this system thinking shows no signs of giving way to hockey's former more-instinctual era in which players coached themselves to a significant degree and invented strategy on the spot.]

BRUINS PRESS RELEASE ON ROSTER MOVEMENT …

BRUINS ISSUE INJURY UPDATES; STUDNICKA AND KEYSER RETURNED TO JUNIOR TEAM

BOSTON – On Thursday, September 21, Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney issued the following updates:

-Matt Beleskey is day-to-day with a foot contusion sustained during the Bruins preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens in Quebec City on September 18.

-Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson is day-to-day with an upper body injury sustained during the Bruins preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings on September 19.

-Torey Krug is out and will be re-evaluated in three weeks as he was hit in the jaw with the puck and has a non-displaced fracture. The injury occurred during the Bruins preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings on September 19.

Sweeney also announced that the team has returned forward Jack Studnicka and goaltender Kyle Keyser to the Oshawa Generals (OHL).

Carlo, Heinen on game roster vs. Philly

It’s assumed here that Brandon Carlo would have to work hard to play his way out of a spot on Boston’s opening-night lineup Oct. 5 vs. Nashville, but the big right shot is listed among seven defensemen on the roster for the second straight game tonight vs. Philadelphia at TD Garden.

Carlo was a minus-2 with a minor penalty over 17:48 of ice time in Tuesday’s victory over Detroit. The two goals against occurred in a span of under four minutes, Anthony Mantha’s net drive trickling through Anton Khudobin with under 4 seconds remaining in the second period, then Carlo was on with Adam McQuaid at 3:39 of the third when Dylan Larkin snapped a shot from below the goal line off of Khudobin’s helmet and into the net to make it a one-goal game.

If there is actually anything incriminating to say about Carlo, is he lost his footing once while handling the puck without imminent pressure from an opponent. This happened to him more than occasionally last season.

Granted, the ice is a challenge for the bull gang on such a night with rain and high humidity. Charlie McAvoy did this on the game’s second shift, losing the puck and setting the stage for Khudobin’s first of many fine saves.

Heinen skated 15:45 vs. Detroit, scoring Boston’s second goal on a pretty goalmouth feed from Forsbacka Karlsson 7:54 into the second period. He also won a faceoff. Heinen’s instincts for the game are telltale, and his craftsmanship in puck battles is more evident with a year of pro under his belt and some speed added in the offseason.

The former Denver winger is Rink Rap’s pre-camp pick as most-improved Bruin, at least where it concerns prospects.

Coach Bruce Cassidy will need to scratch a forward and a defenseman so it’s quite possible neither Carlo ore Heinen will be in the lineup vs. the Flyers.

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Mick Colageo

Mick Colageo grew up in East Walpole, Mass., skating on Coburn's Pond and at 4 Seasons Arena. He has been writing about hockey since 1986 and covering the Bruins since 1991, is a voting member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, and ... Read Full